1. |
Instant Pleasure
03:10
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All I want is somebody to love me
And give me sex whenever I want it
All I ask for is instant pleasure
Instant pleasure, instant pleasure
I sit in traffic for what seems like an eternity
And I think "Is this where I really want to be?"
There must be some way I can get
Instant pleasure, instant pleasure
All I want to do is paint
But I hear the pay ain't great
Think I'll do it anyway
I go to Starbucks and hope some girl notices me
Try to sit cool, that's not really cool
All I want is instant pleasure
Instant pleasure, instant pleasure
Rock on
Had a dream that I won the lottery
Everyone wanted to be my friend
Why'd that stupid dream have to end?
All I want is somebody to love me
And give me sex whenever I want it
All I ask for is instant pleasure
Instant pleasure, instant pleasure
Instant pleasure, instant pleasure
Instant pleasure
(All I want is)
(Someone to love me)
Notes on song:
I was switching tv channels with a clicker and scrolling on the internet with the other and the thought occurred to me how I had a need to be pleased immediately— how I needed ‘instant pleasure’. Those words popped into my head, I picked up my guitar and wrote the entire song in 10 minutes.
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2. |
Herman Cherry
03:03
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Herman Cherry is a very tiny man
A walrus mustache and an ever-present cigar
He can jitterbug with the very best of them
Herman Cherry is a very tiny man.
An abstract expressionist
He prefers a large canvas
Of black on black or black on gray
Sees art as trial and error
Till the painter becomes aware
Of what he’s trying to say.
Herman Cherry is a very tiny man
A walrus mustache and an ever-present cigar
He can jitterbug with the very best of them
Herman Cherry is a very tiny man.
Throbbing colors like a heart
Always beating very hard
In no specific time or space
In textures made of sand
And utterly unplanned
Everything in its place
I heard him quoting Willem De Kooning
Who said ‘I fight my way out of a picture,
Not into it.’
Herman Cherry is a very tiny man
A walrus mustache and an ever-present cigar
He can jitterbug with the very best of them
Herman Cherry is a very tiny man.
Notes on song:
I bought an old paperback called “Conversations With Artists” at a used book store. The book consisted of short interviews with painters of the 1940s and 50s. That’s where I discovered a man named Herman Cherry who was described this way: “Herman Cherry is a tiny fellow, with a walrus mustache and an ever-present cigar….who can jitterbug with the best of them”. I picked up my guitar and basically sang those words, later adding more about his artistry. That’s how it became a song.
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3. |
Only Me Fair May
02:44
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Thinking of you dancing naked on my bed
Always in the mood to play
Only Me Fair May, Only Me Fair May
Taking lots of pictures of you in my head
To think of when you’re far away
Only Me Fair May, Only Me Fair May
Only Me Fair May, Only Me Fair May
I want you to be with me
Right here with you always
Drawing in your sketchbook
Did you know that I could look at you all day
Only Me Fair May, Only Me Fair May
Gazing at you deeply loving you completely
And all I want to say is
Only Me Fair May, Only Me Fair May
Only Me Fair May
Thinking of you jumping naked in my bed
Taking lots of pictures of you in my head
(Only Me Fair Me May)
Drawing in your sketchbook
Did you know that I could look
(Only Me Fair May)
Gazing at you deeply
Loving you completely
(Only Me Fair May)
Thinking of you jumping naked in my bed
I want you now to know
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4. |
It's Still Love
03:25
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You don’t need an invitation
To go and plant one seed
You don’t need a pager
To greet your neighbor
Part of life’s mystery
Is it’s simplicity
It’s still love that we need
Even more than before
It’s still love, I believe
That the world’s aching for
Cause when push comes to shove
It’s still love.
You don’t need a million dollars
To watch a sunrise
You don’t need a dictionary
To know what “Yes” means
Through the years it’s still true
Just one thing will pull us through
It’s still love that we need
Even more than before
It’s still love, I believe
That the world’s aching for
Cause when push comes to shove
It’s still love.
Anything you want
Anything you dream
You can have it all
It’s easy.
It’s still love that we need
Even more than before
It’s still love, I believe
That the world’s aching for
Cause when push comes to shove
It’s still love.
Yes, when push comes to shove
It’s still love.
It’s still love.
Notes on song:
One of the The Beatles most famous songs and messages was “All You Need Is Love” recorded in 1967. When I heard that Ringo Starr was looking for a song for his album, “Choose Love”, I wrote this song for him feeling that the message of “love” was more relevant than ever. He didn’t end up recording it (instead, recording a song called “Never Without You”, which is eerily similar in melody and ‘feel’ to my song. But, we won’t go there). I’m still quite proud of this song and felt the presence of John Lennon when I wrote it.
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5. |
Roger
03:04
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I have a friend named Roger
He plays the ukulele well
But he won’t send me his record
He’s afraid it wouldn’t sell
He lived on the Upper Westside
In a room he painted red
But the rent got too expensive
Now he’s down in Brooklyn
And there he lives
Between a pool hall and a bridge
And we don’t talk very often
But then we never did
He once had a girlfriend
He tried to win her love
But she had a minor hit in England
Then she was off
There he lives
Between a pool hall and a bridge
And we don’t talk very often
But then we never did
I have a friend named Roger
He plays the ukulele well
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6. |
Wednesday Unraveling
01:01
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Wake up to a bright morning
She calls to say she’s leaving
Should’ve let the phone just ring
Wednesday unraveling
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7. |
Edinburgh
02:37
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She arrives in Edinburgh on the 6th
That’s all I’m saying, that’s all I’m saying
I can hear in your voice you’re up to your old tricks
That’s all I’m saying, that’s all I’m saying
Do what you feel
Just let your heart go
Do what you want
But I don’t wanna know
I’ll give her the song that you wrote for her
That’s all I’m doing, that’s all I’m doing
You know that she’ll read into every word
That’s all I’m saying, that’s all I’m doing
Please don’t hurt her
She’ll fall in love with you
I think that’s what you want her to do
Don’t you?
Look at yourself feeling so sad
You hurt her once now you’re trying to win her back
She departs from Edinburgh on the eighth
If you really love her then keep the faith
That’s all I’m saying, that’s all I’m saying
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8. |
Bike Trip
02:17
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Wait, I’ll wait, I’ll wait for you
Till you come back from your bike trip
Love, Love is thinking of
Holding you into the morning
You can take me to an oratorio
I can teach you how to hit a baseball
And that’s not all
Kiss, kiss me, kiss me now
Don’t let go till our lips say so
I want to hear all your latest dialogue
We can stay up late and work on my collage
And then I’ll give you a back massage
Sleep with me, with me, sleep
Let’s keep it our little secret
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9. |
It's Always The Same
03:02
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Each day I wake I can’t decide
What I will do with the rest of my life
It’s always the same.
I sit down to write, so uninspired
Wouldn’t you know, I’m already tired.
It’s always the same.
What happened to the dreams I had long ago
I opened the jar and let them all go.
So many little things I still wanna do
Everyone needs something to look forward to.
I love myself then I hate myself
I wish I was anyone and nobody else.
It’s always the same, it’s always the same.
Notes on song:
I saw a note that the artist Marc Chagall wrote that said, “Work, work, work. I get tired when I don’t work. I get up each morning and I have no idea of what I am going to do, I am very worried. Then I go to bed and still worry, and say: I haven’t worked enough, It’s always the same.” That’s where the title and inspiration for this song comes from.
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10. |
Ordinary Man
02:14
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Now I’m standing in my garden
With my blue watering can
And I’m feeling undistracted
I’m just an ordinary man
Used to wanna be so famous
That was all part of the plan
Now I like the simple pleasures
Of an ordinary man
And I’ve traded in my cellphone
For a book of poetry
And I read it to my lover
As she’s lying next to me
Now I’m gazing at the ocean
My feet buried in the sand
Happy in the path I’ve chosen
Of an ordinary man
And I’m doing my self portrait
With a periwinkle crayon
And the picture that’s emerging
Is of an ordinary, not extraordinary
Just an ordinary man
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11. |
Butterfly On Jupiter
04:04
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Sitting here at the end of my couch
Looking out my window I see night
Just leave me in my cardboard box
It’s so comfortable inside
Now the clock is hanging on my wall
It turns and turns but it goes to the same numbers
I keep thinking that this is a charade
That I’m living a dream that I can’t get under
And I feel like a butterfly on Jupiter
Lost and all alone
So beautiful but you know I’d rather be
Somewhere near my home, oh no
Everybody wants to take me on a ride
It’s hazy but I still want to go
I see they’ve turned Saturn on
It makes no difference to me now
And I feel like a butterfly on Jupiter
Lost and all alone
So beautiful but you know I’d rather be
Somewhere near my home, oh no
Ladies and gentleman, I give to you
The king of the monarch butterflies
Timothy James Butterfly
I feel like, I’m lost and all alone
Beautiful, somewhere near my home
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12. |
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13. |
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14. |
Seth Swirsky Los Angeles, California
Melodic, classic, retro-pop from
Seth Swirsky, a multi-award winning, singer-songwriter, author and filmmaker.
He’s written a number of top ten hits for a multitude of artists and is also a founding member of the acclaimed power pop band The Red Button.
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